Sleeping Valley (Part 3)
The moon was high in the sky, the clouds shifting and shifting, revealing no starlight. It was late at night, and it was time for bed, but Jiang Yu couldn't fall asleep. He had been busy drawing talismans and setting up formations near the bridge all day, and only officially finished his work at nightfall. Before he could even eat a bite, he started talking to his boss on the phone to explain the situation.
"Ten years ago, during the final stages of the scenic area's construction, we encountered this situation. Many workers disappeared near the bridge, so we put up signs prohibiting passage. But unexpectedly, some tourists still ignored the warnings and insisted on going through."
"Then?" Jiang Yu looked at the night sky with a cold face.
The scattered moonlight covered his eyelashes like a thin layer of frost, and the cold moonlight permeated the sharpness in his eyes, blending with each other.
Liu Xu took a step back after seeing this. He had been with Jiang Yu the longest, and Jiang Yu would always take him with him on important tasks. Therefore, he knew that Jiang Yu was really getting anxious.
The voice on the other end of the phone also sounded a little nervous: "The list of names left and right this time is all the people who disappeared ten years ago."
A person who disappeared ten years ago without a trace and could not be found returned home ten years later and disappeared with his entire family.
Moreover, the surveillance cameras in the scenic area did not show any signs of that group of people or their families, but the police received new photos, the same place, the same shooting angle, and even the positions of the little girl and the little boy were exactly the same.
The public security department also took it seriously. We didn't know the person who provided those photos nor the time they were entered. We checked the backend and found that they appeared automatically in the database.
Something here knows them and constantly tries to guide them.
But one was in the light and the other was in the dark. Jiang Yu had no idea and did not dare to act rashly.
In addition, he had been in the scenic area for so long and had not felt anything unusual. At least he could find some resentment from the stray animals who had been abused and died innocently. This scenic area was incredibly clean.
"Baishui Town, what's going on? Have you been to the other side of the bridge?" Jiang Yu asked coldly.
Fortunately, this boss was easy to talk to and communicate with, and really wanted to handle the problem properly, so he answered whatever Jiang Yu asked.
"Baishui Town was originally built along the river valley. When I found it, there were not many people left. Most of them had gone out to work. But the bigger reason was that Baishui Town had previously experienced severe floods and landslides, which killed many people."
Jiang Yu frowned. If a disaster caused many people to die in vain, then there must be resentment here, so this can be ruled out.
As for working outside the home, it is even more normal. It is nothing more than that the economic development is too slow and people need to find another way out in order to have a better quality of life.
The boss thought for a moment and added, "The person in charge you mentioned who is unwilling to adapt is a resident of Baishui Town."
Another possibility of going out to work - that something happened in the village and the residents were afraid of leaving first - was also ruled out.
However, Jiang Yu realized he had overlooked one issue: all the photos provided by the police, as well as the missing persons, had appeared on that bridge. He suspected there might be something fishy going on with the bridge, and that someone had pulled some shady trick.
So, he changed the subject and asked, "Did you build the bridge, or did it already exist?"
The boss thought for a moment and said, "To be honest, I also suspected that someone with insider knowledge was setting me up when this bridge was being built. Ten years ago, when workers disappeared, I asked quite a few people to look at it. Later, a new team demolished it and rebuilt it, but tourists still got into accidents afterwards."
"This matter is serious. I just heard about you from another master. Honestly, I was a bit abrupt. I contacted you right after I asked my assistant to gather the information. If time allowed, I really wanted to meet you in person and explain everything to you in advance. I'm really sorry to bother you with this."
The boss spoke in a friendly tone and was very sincere.
Jiang Yu glanced at the dark night sky outside the window, and the cold light in his eyes dimmed.
Before he made the call, he tried hard to suppress the anger that was burning in his heart. After hearing what his boss said, he came to his senses again.
Yu Shu's accident had nothing to do with the scenic area, but with him. If he hadn't let his guard down, he wouldn't have fallen into the passive situation he's in now. But finding him was more important than wasting time blaming himself.
Jiang Yu took a breath without leaving a trace: "Did anyone go there during the construction period?"
"For safety reasons, I don't recommend going there." The boss sighed with some remorse. "When the first worker disappeared, my brother suggested going in to look for him. He actually went in, but he hasn't come out since..."
Jiang Yu heard the loophole, but didn't say anything. He thanked the person politely and hung up the phone.
Jiang Yu's face, which usually showed no emotion, was now tinged with anxiety and worry. No matter how bright the moonlight was, it could not penetrate the layers of worry in his heart.
He stared at the inky black night for a while, and only turned around after a long time.
"Go back and bring the ghost I kept in the small room." He paused, as if he had mustered a lot of courage to make this decision. "And Si Yangyu."
When he heard about Siyangyu, Liu Xu's eyes widened. This fish was very precious and he had never seen Jiang Yu take it out and use it.
When he first started working with Jiang Yu, he took on a case where a hotel tenant in Hong Kong had mysteriously disappeared. He sent out the little ghosts to help find the clues, but there were no clues. So he asked, "There's a small room in the room where the little ghosts are. Can we use the fish in there?"
Jiang Yu immediately became nervous: "We can't use Si Yangyu until it's absolutely necessary."
"Okay, I understand." Liu Xu still didn't know Si Yangyu's ability, he only knew that Jiang Yu was really anxious.
Jiang Yu closed his eyes and waved his hand, telling Liu Xu to leave quickly. Only after Liu Xu walked away did he relax his tense shoulders and rub his eyebrows.
The moist morning breeze pulled the grass leaves, gently cutting Yu Shu's skin.
He opened his eyes and found himself among the grass and trees by the river, even though he had clearly slept in the house last night. He glanced around again, but didn't see He Yuhua. He looked down and was shocked to find that the Eternal Life Knot was gone.
Panic spread to every corner of the body, and the fresh air that entered the nose with the breath became icy cold.
He Yuhua is his last guarantee of safety in this deserted yet full of traces of human life place. Now he can't contact Jiang Yu, and even she is missing. If he encounters the same group of people in red clothes as last night, he is doomed to have no way to escape and can only leave it to fate.
"He Yuhua?!"
Yu Shu panicked and kept feeling around for the grass and trees, hoping that the Knot of Eternal Life had just fallen to the ground.
But no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't find any trace of the Eternal Life Knot.
He gave up. It must be that the thing here last night guessed that He Yuhua was the last umbrella of protection, so it took away the Eternal Life Knot while he was asleep and then threw him here.
Yu Shu didn't dare to go to the village, but didn't want to sit there and wait for death, so he went to the other side.
The woods on the other side of the valley were more normal. There were no signs of human activity, but there were animal footprints and figures. It was not so quiet that only the sounds of wind and water remained.
"This forest is so cool, a great place to escape the summer heat." Yu Shu continued to mutter to himself, as if the presence of some human voice could give him more courage.
The forest is filled with a light mist, and when you look at things in it, your eyes automatically have a layer of softened and hazy filter.
The almost imperceptible sound of flowing water is hidden under the sound of broken branches and leaves underfoot. There are more signs of animal activities in the deep forest. You can occasionally encounter a few crows flying away while chirping, and you can also see reptiles such as centipedes.
"All the animals I saw were black or dark in color..." Yu Shu frowned.
This forest may be even more eerie than the village. Crows, also called black birds, are very spiritual and can predict danger and remind people to stay away. The more you walk, the more crows you encounter. At first, there were only one or two, but now they have become a group of more than ten.
The cries of the crows and their scattering made Yu Shu feel even colder than the absence of any animals at all.
He tried to walk back.
On the way back, there were more and more crows, as if they were constantly moving in the opposite direction, going deeper and deeper into the forest.
At the same time, Yu Shu's attention was distracted by the sight of animal tracks. He realized that there was something wrong with the forest as well, and then he could hear the clear sound of the river flowing beside him.
But he had long lost sight of the river, so how could the sound of flowing water reach his ears?
"I shouldn't have wandered around aimlessly. I brought trouble upon myself." Yu Shu complained to himself in a low voice.
I don’t know if it’s because the forest is too big and has no boundaries, or if I encountered a mysterious wall in broad daylight. The sun was already directly overhead, but I still couldn’t get out.
This is not a solution, Yu Shu thought.
Fortunately, there was a distinctive landmark in front of him, so he walked back from the big tree with only the roots left. Along the way, he kept picking up vines and branches on the ground and tied them to the tree as a mark, from tying one branch to five branches.
"The sixth marking point." Yu Shu marked it and continued walking.
After walking straight for about a hundred meters, I returned to the roots of the tree.
The dense trees around them looked like people with their hands and feet cut off, piled densely together. The more Yu Shu looked at them, the more nervous he became, and his fingertips felt slightly cold.
However, the roots of the tree had changed. Before he left, the roots were clean and without any scratches, but this time he saw a freshly carved vertical line in the middle, and some uncleaned wood chips next to it.
"Could there be someone else here?" Yu Shu touched the mark.
Unless it was a large cat, it would be difficult to leave traces on the tree roots. But if there were large cats in this forest, they would have been starving and would never let go of him, a walking food.
If there really are other people, it may not be good news. Who knows whether you will meet a human or a ghost in this place.
He had originally thought that the little boy was a talent, so he chased him in, but ended up with a tragic ending where he couldn't get out, couldn't contact anyone, and even lost the knot of eternal life.
He didn't dare to be impulsive again. Even Jiang Yu said that the situation this time was more difficult than the previous times, and he couldn't even see what was wrong with this place.
It would be tragic if something happened accidentally, because he had just paid off his loan and had some savings, and hadn't had time to enjoy life yet.
"I still have talismans!" Yu Shu just remembered that before chasing the little boy, he took a lot of talismans from Jiang Yu.
Although the Eternal Life Knot is gone, the talisman is still a guarantee. Moreover, among the talismans prepared by Jiang Yu, there is also a guiding talisman. He is very confident in the talisman drawn by Jiang Yu himself.
Although he had never learned the art before, Jiang Yu had specially modified the talisman before coming this time, so that ordinary people could use it without any acquired skills. He imitated Jiang Yu's casting movements, pinching the guide talisman between two fingers and drawing a few circles in the air, then letting go and throwing it.
He watched the talisman ignite with an orange-red flame and slowly float forward. His heart settled a little, and he followed steadily.
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